Credit: AfCHPR
In June, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (the Assembly) elected four judges to replace vacancies on the 11-member African Court on Human and People’s Rights. [AfCHPR Press Release] See IJRC, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: 2018 Elections. The election occurred at the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union in Nouakchott, Mauritania, during which the Assembly elected the following individuals: Imani Aboud (Tanzania), Stella Isibhakhomen Anukam (Nigeria), Ben Kioko (Kenya), and Blaise Tchikaya (Congo). [AfCHPR Press Release] See also AU Executive Council, Draft Agenda, AU Doc. EX.CL/Draft/1(XXXIII) (June 28-29, 2018), sec. X. Three of the judges were elected to six-year terms, while one judge was elected to serve a two-year term, being the remainder of the term for another judge who resigned prematurely. See IJRC, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: 2018 Elections. The judges will begin their terms at the first African Court session following the election, which is scheduled to begin on August 27, 2018 in Arusha, Tanzania. See AfCHPR, Calendar of Sessions.
The Judges’ Profiles
Judge-elect Imani Aboud, of Tanzania, was elected for the first time to the African Court. See IJRC, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: 2018 Elections. Aboud currently serves as a judge on the Tanzanian National High Court as well as the President of the Tanzania Women Judges Association. See id.; International Association of Women Judges, Hon. Imani Daud Aboud. She previously worked as a state attorney general, and was a founder of the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance of Tanzania. See IJRC, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: 2018 Elections.
Judge-elect Stella Isibhakhomen Anukam, of Nigeria, was elected for the first time to the African Court. See id. Anukam is a Nigerian lawyer, and since 2015 she has served as the Director of International and Comparative Law on the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Justice and as the National Coordinator on human rights issues in Nigeria. [The Sun] See IJRC, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: 2018 Elections. Before her directorship, Anukam held various posts in Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Justice, including as State Counsel. See IJRC, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: 2018 Elections.
Judge Ben Kioko, of Kenya, was re-elected to the African Court for a second term. See id. Kioko has served on the African Court since July 2012. See id. Before serving as a judge, Kioko served as the Legal Counsel and Director of the AU Legal Department. See id.; AfCHPR, Justice Ben Kioko (Vice President) – Kenya. During his time at the AU, Kioko was involved in the drafting and negotiations of over 20 treaties adopted under the AU, and the drafting and negotiation of a variety of human rights instruments. See IJRC, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: 2018 Elections. In addition to his work on the Court, Kioko serves on several human rights and international advisory boards. See id.
Judge-elect Blaise Tchikaya, of the Congo, was elected for the first time to the African Court. See id. Tchikaya is a professor in public international law and a practicing lawyer from the Congo. See id. Tchikaya’s academic work has focused on international human rights law and international jurisprudence in African States. See id. He is also a member of several research centers, including a member of the Center for Research on Local Authorities in the Caribbean and the Centre de Recherche sur l’Action Locale in France. See id.
Election Procedure
The election process for judicial appointments to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is established by the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. At least four months before an election, the African Union Commission, the secretariat of the AU, will invite States parties to the Protocol to nominate up to three judges, two of which must be nationals of the nominating State. See Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (adopted 9 June 1998, entered into force 25 January 2004), OAU/LEG/EXP/AFCHPR/PROT (III), arts. 12, 13. The African Union Commission compiles the list of nominees and submits it to Member States of the AU for consideration no later than 30 days before an election. See id. at art. 13.
The Judges are then elected by secret ballot by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU. See id. at art. 14(1). All judges on the Court must be nationals of AU Member States, and no two judges may be nationals of the same State. See id. at art. 11. Elected judges serve a six-year term, unless the judge is elected to fill the vacancy of a judge who did not complete their term, in which case the elected judge will complete the term of the predecessor. See id. at arts. 15(1), 15(3). Newly elected judges begin their term on the first day of the first African Court session following their appointment and remain in office until replaced. See AfCHPR, Rules of Court (2009), rule 2.
Civil society organizations submitted to the AU Commission factors for consideration during the nomination process; the AU Commission passed these factors on to States, stating Member States “may wish to also consider whether or not to apply” civil society’s submitted factors, in addition to the established procedural requirements, in the national nomination process. See African Union Commission, Call for Nominations, AU Doc. BC/OLC/66.5/502.18 (Mar. 26, 2018), 4. In the current election, civil society called for (1) nominations to be made via a process that is, at a minimum, equivalent to that for electing judges to the highest national court of the nominating State; (2) States to encourage civil society participation in the process of selecting judges; and, (3) States to employ transparent and impartial national procedures for the nomination of judges. See id.
As a point of comparison, the process for electing judges to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights – a regional human rights court in the Americas – is very similar to that of the African Court, and civil society in the Americas has also recommended that civil society participate in the national nomination process for Inter-American Court judges and that States ensure transparent and impartial nomination procedures. See Carlos Ayala, et al., Final Report of the Independent Panel for the Election of Judges to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (2018), 39-42. In recent years civil society in the Americas has organized its own independent panel of experts to examine the candidates and election procedures and to engage in an open dialogue with the candidates. [IJRC] The independent panel of experts submits questionnaires to the candidates, reviews the candidates’ past work, and holds dialogues with the candidates and civil society ahead of elections so as to evaluate the judicial nominees for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and nominees of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. [IJRC]
Gender Parity in Human Rights Bodies
The Protocol to the African Charter requires that the AU Assembly ensure adequate gender representation in the African Court. See Protocol to the African Charter, art. 14(3). In connection with this requirement, the Executive Council of the AU adopted a decision which instructs that there should be at least two judges on the African Court from each African region (East, Central, North, South, and West), and that at least one of the two judges from each region should be female. See African Union Commission, Decision on the Modalities on Implementation of Criteria for Equitable Geographical and Gender Representation in the African Union Organs, Doc. EX.CL/953(XXVIII), paras. 1-2. To assist in ensuring a gender balance, the African Union Commission will make specific recommendations concerning the gender of nominees when soliciting nominations from States Parties to the Protocol. See African Union Commission, Call for Nominations, AU Doc. BC/OLC/66.5/502.18 (Mar. 26, 2018), 3. After the most recent election, six of the members of the Court will be women and five men. See AfCHPR, Current Judges.
Other supranational bodies have also taken steps to ensure greater gender parity in light of a significant gap in gender representation among international bodies. When electing judges to serve on the European Court of Human Rights, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will consider a single-sex list of candidates when one sex composes less than 40 percent of the total judges on the court. See Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights, Procedure for Electing Judges to the European Court of Human Rights (2018), para. 8. The Inter-American Court, however, does not have a rule comparable to that of the African Court or the European Court of Human Rights. Within the United Nations, the Secretary General António Guterres launched a roadmap in 2017 aimed at achieving parity within the entire UN by 2030 and within senior leadership by 2021. See UN, United for Gender Parity: Strategy. The Secretary General announced in early 2018 that the UN has already achieved gender parity within senior management at the organization. [UNRIC Press Release]
Additional Information
The African Court is a regional human rights tribunal with jurisdiction over complaints against States parties to the Protocol to the African Charter, and concerning violations of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other human rights instruments ratified by the State named in the complaint. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, States parties, and African intergovernmental organizations may refer complaints to the Court. Eight States have made a declaration allowing individuals and non-governmental organizations to submit complaints against those States directly to the Court. See IJRC, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Court also has the authority to issue advisory opinions on questions referred it by States concerning the interpretation of the African Charter. The African Court was formed in 2006 and has its seat in Arusha, Tanzania. See AfCHPR, Establishment of the Court.
For more information about the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African human rights system, the European Court of Human Rights and the European human rights system, or the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American human rights system, visit IJRC’s Online Resource Hub. To stay up-to-date on international human rights law news, visit IJRC’s News Room or subscribe to the IJRC Daily.